It was getting late. Bren went to the clinic again to check if his tail was alright after the stunt I had to pull to Keep the meeting from falling into chaos. Voss had decided to come back home with us. He said he wants to get to know us better. There was a little area behind the house and we decided to build a campfire to sit around to talk. After once again telling someone our back stories we decided to relax until Bren came back.
Elie stood up. "I'm hungry! We got some sausages in the icebox. Imma go get them." Said Elie. She went inside the house. Voss and I sat in silence for a second. "So I know each of you's back stories but how did you two meet?" Asked Voss. I laughed at the memorie. "Well I shot her with an arrow. Then She started chasing me. I Thought she was gonna kill me but it turns out she was just curious about me. Long story short we became friends of sorts." I recounted. We stood still and looked at the fire.
"You two seem to have a close relationship." Commented Voss. I flinched a bit after hearing that. "Oh uh That's uh-" As i was stuttering on my word Elie came back from the house with a ribbon of sausages around her neck! "Let's put these babies on the Fire!" She cheers. "Oh Sweet! What are those made of?" I asked her. "Ork." She said. I think I misheard that. "Uh Do you mean Pork?" I corrected her. She nodded her head. "No…"
"Oh."I said.
We stabbed our sausages with skewers and started roasting them over the fire. The sun was nearly fully gone in the sky. And the moon was starting to rise. Voss stretched his arms. "Ahhh. ya know, nights like these are perfect for telling stories." He said. "Ooh. What kind of stories?" Asked Elie intrigued. Voss thought for a second. "Hmm. What about some folktales?" he suggested. "Sure why not." I said. It'll take my mind off the Orks… I hope it's the pig-like ones and not the green monster type!
"I'll go first since I'm the one who suggested it." Said voss. "Alrighty then."I told him. Elie made herself comfortable. Voss got closer to the fire and his face lit up ominously. "This story is actually more of an urban legend because some people think it really happened! Prepare yourselves because this is the story of HEADLESS JACK!!! A long time ago, during the Demon war there was a knight named Sir.Johann. Johann was a strong and famous knight, one who was the leader of many men and a slayer of many demons!"
"One day Sir.Johann was sent on a campaign to a demon controlled city deep in enemy territory. He was to take the city from the demons and drive them back. What he didn't expect was for the demon's to have their own champion. A seer by the name of Sova. Sova knew all about Sir.Johann. She had a seething hatred for him. He had killed her mother in one of his battles. She was ready for him. He was not."
"When Sir.Johann and his men were crossing what is now the Neverfree forest, they were ambushed by Sova and her Demons. They tore his men apart limb by limb until all that was left was him. He challenged Sova to a 1 on 1 fight and she laughed in his face. She doesn't value trivial things like honor or a fair fight. She unleashed her army on him. He fought till the bitter end. But before the final blow was struck Sova cursed him. She then decapitated him and took his head as a trophy!"
"But this was not the end of Sir.Johann. He later awoke to find that he was still alive but his head was missing! Instead of his head a blue flame came from out of his neck! He had been turned into a Dullahan. All dullahans draw power from their severed heads, but as you know his was nowhere to be found. He could feel himself growing weaker by the minute. He had to find something to replace his lost head! He couldn't use the heads of his fallen soldiers as theirs had been taken by the demons as well!"
"He wandered the forest for anything he could use as a head until eventually he came across a pumpkin patch. Thinking quickly, he grabbed a pumpkin and cut a face into it. He sliced the bottom of the pumpkin and slid his blue fire into it. It worked but it wasn't enough he could still feel like he was slowly losing himself. When he tried to leave the forest to go after Sova he found that no matter in what direction he walked he couldn't seem to find a way out of the forest! This was Sova's curse. He is forced to wander the forest in which he died for all of eternity!"
"Eventually the effects of losing his mind both literally and figuratively Caused him to attack anyone wandering at night unfortunate enough to run into him. To this day he wanders the woods inserch of Sova, the demon that took his head and the locals named him Headless Jack!" He finished his story ceremoniously. "And that my friends is why you don't wander the woods at night," said voss.
"Ooh, CREEPY." said Elie. I took my hotdog out of the fire. "I mean I don't find it realistic in the slightest but hey, I'm a talking rat! Who am I to say what is and isn't possible." I commented. "Well it's more of a cautionary tale for children not to wander the forest at night," he added.
At that moment Bren came home. I saw that his tail was bandaged up. "Feeling better Blue-tail?" I asked him. "No thanks to you." whispered Brendan. "What are you guys doing?" He asked curiously. "We're telling stories and Eating Sausages! wanna join?" Offered Elie. "Sure I'll eat. But I don't think I'll tell a story. I'm exhausted." he said. "What stories have you told?" Asked Bren. "I've only told a story so far. The one about headless Jack." Said voss. "Oh headless jack? I've heard that one hundreds of times." Said Bren.
"Well you've never heard my story!" said Elie. "Oh you wanna go next?" Voss asked, intrigued. "YES!" Said Elie excited. She got closer to the fire and now her face glowed orange. "This is a story that my dad used to tell me before I went to sleep at night. This is the tale of The Mother." She presented. "Heh. A bedtime story? Ok Go ahead." Said voss
She cleared her throat. "Once upon a time there was a Poor Human family living in a cabin in the snowy tundras of the Dwarven Kingdom. They Didn't have much but they did have each other. Everyday was a struggle but together they were able to live happily. The father hunted for food and worked as a lumberjack while the mother cooked, cleaned, and took care of their baby son."
"One harsh winter the family was struggling to make money and the father could barely find any animals to hunt, but they still kept positive. Any food they did eat the father only ate until the mother had enough to eat. But even this wasn't enough. Eventually the family grew weak due to starvation. The father grew sick and it was up to the mother to find help. But she can't just leave her baby with her sick husband so she took him with her."
"During the journey she couldn't find anything to eat, not even bush berries. The cries of her hungry baby had alerted some wolves to her presence. She ran from these wolves but then as fate would have it she fell into a ravine. There was fresh snow at the bottom and she took most of the impact keeping her child safe. But she was now stuck there and dIdn't have enough energy to climb out. The pain of her hunger was making it hard to even have a clear thought. But the cries of her baby gave her a horrendous idea."
" In a starvation-fueled disaster She thought if she ate one of her child's arms she would gain enough strength to climb out of the ravine and save all three of them. She Tied a cloth around the child's arm and started eating her child. The baby cried in agony as the mother ate it's arm. Once the mother finished the baby's arm she just kept on eating, not stopping. Eventually the cries of the child were silenced. Once the mother was full she had realised what she had just done. She let out one long scream."
"With time she gained the resolve to climb out of the ravine. She didn't know what to do; she had just cannibalized her child! She was keeling on the ground motionless with the blood of her child still on her lips. Until a single tear dripped down her face, followed by more and more! She started to scratch her face uncontrollably until the bone and muscle underneath was visible! Her body started to warp and stretch in a disturbing manner. Her arms started to grow and her nails started turning into claws. The mother's legs started changing shape into those resembling a deer's. And finally her head was sprouting two bone white antlers and within her mouth sprouted a full set of ferocious fangs!"
"Once her transformation was complete she looked at her new form in the reflection of an ice covered river. All she could do was scream because she was now a monster in both body and spirit… And that was the story of The Mother!" Elie finished.
All of us were left speechless. "Did you guys like my story?" Asked Elie. "Uh yeah what the fuck mate?" Asked voss. "That's a bedtime story!?" Asked Bren, disgusted. "Well at least it was entertaining." I said troubled.
"Well that's her story. All that leaves is you Rat." Voss told me. "Um, I don't feel like telling a story." I said. "Aww c'mon man it's fun!" He pressured me. "Ok you want a story? I'll give you a story!" I yelled, giving in. I sat closer to the fire. The warm heat was like a comforting hug. "This is the story of a Kid who just didn't think like others!"
"A long time ago in a world not like this one. There lived a young boy. The boy's parents had abandoned him when he was just a baby. The only family he ever had were some poor hobos that found him inside of a trash bin. A baby in the trash!? Nothing new there. Except this one was alive. Instead of turning the baby in to the authorities the hobos decided to raise him as a member of their camp. They raised the child to survive out in the concrete jungle. They tried sending the child out to school but he was such a huge trouble maker he was kicked out of multiple schools! The reason? He would constantly steal or get into fights with little to no provocation."
"The kid eventually became a teen and that's when he decided he had seen enough of school. It's not that he was stupid just that he couldn't stand it! You sit at a desk Day in and day out every single week for 13 years of your life or more! And for what? A single piece of damn paper that says you know the minimum to get some job where you have to do the same. GOD. DAMNED. THING. Every day till you die!"
"The system was rigged and he knew it."
"One day when out on a walk the kid saw a black backpack on the side of the road. Curious, he opened the bag to find a large amount of money! Enough to change the lives of every homeless person at the camp he lives in! Eagerly he came back home with the bag and showed it to the people at the camp. Before they could finish celebrating however. A large group of thugs armed with knives and bats showed up at the camp and demanded they hand over the money."
"They handed over the money but the thugs weren't satisfied. They demand compensation. A huge Amount of cash, $8,000 to be exact. The teen had never even seen that much money let alone have it. If the Hobos don't pay the money in one week they would have their organs donated for them."
"So the teen went to town to find a job. But no one would hire him. Of Course they don't, who wants a dirty violent kid with almost no 'real' education working for them after all? So he went to the grapevine to see if he could find anything less than legal. After looking for a bit he found a person named Mama bear." She needed some extra muscle for a job she was planning. After telling her that he had experience in robbery already. She decided to take a chance and hired him."
"So he joined her. And after picking a mask of a certain Chinese zodiac animal they robbed a bank! with the help of others of course. Turns out the kid had a knack for pulling heists and the job went smoothly. After the job was said and done he ended up with $10,000! more than enough to pay off the debt!"
"And the rest is history." I concluded. Everyone was sitting around intrigued by my story. "And then what happened to the kid!?" asked Elie.
"Heh heh. Well that story is still in the making."